Geneon Panel

The panel started with new developments about the Geneon Spot. The Geneon Spot started in October and had high expectatcions. However, Geneon Spot ste had a lot of difficulties and will be later launched later this year. One component that did not cause any difficulties was the Geneon Talk Radio podcast which is available at the company website and iTunes. It can also be found by searching “Geneon Talk Radio” at any podcast search engines. The Geneon Spot will still offer exclusive merchandise items. Calendars from comi-ket will be imported over. One item that was highlighted was the Hellsing Ultimate pocket watch, manufactured by Fossil watches. Only 666 of these will be produced (no price has been set yet, but pre-orders are available).

Geneon has been busy pursuing digital distribution or also known as “unpackaged media”. They have teamed up with Akimbo, Xbox 360 live, and Vuze. Akira is available in HD only on the Xbox 360 (480 points to download). The other titles that are available in HD are Last Exile, GunXsword, Samurai Horror Tales, Lupin 3rd, and Gankatsous (theo, check on name).

Geneon is starting to more kid-friendly anime series. One of the titles that they had acquired is called Chop Socky Chooks, which is made from the people who created Wallace and Grommet. Another title is which was purchased is Deltora Quest, which will be aired in January on TV Aichi.

Geneon has also been active in placing anime series on TV. Fuse TV and ImaginAsian TV have their own time blocks dedicated to anime. Fuse TV is currently running the Tenjho Tenge and Ergo Proxy weekly at 9 PM (check local listings to see what channel and day). ImaginAsian TV has AnimeEnerG block with Elemental Glade, Kyo Kara Maoh!, and Gankutsou every Tuesday at 8 (check local listings to see what channel they are running on). To please the viewers who do not like dubbed versions of their anime, there are subbed versions available, too.

The last part of the panel was to display the new anime titles that Geneon has obtained. Shonen Onmyouji is a retelling of an onmyouji story featuring the grandson. It is mainly for viewers who are into Shonen since it is comprised of Shonen character designs and action. It is officially available on July 10. Saiunkoku Monogatari is a series set in ancient China; a princess is tasked to make the king respectable in 6 months. It will be debuted on August 28. Hellsing Ultimate: Volume 3 premiered in the US the following night; there was a marathon from episodes 1 to 3 for it. For the October release, there will be 2 types of packaging: a regular and a steel-case special edition (the steel edition will have extras involving the a panel following the Geneon Panel). The Familiar of Zero is more for the Harry Potter fans because of one of the panelists said “Harry Potter done by the creators of Tenchi Muyo.” However, there is no release date announced. Guardian of the Sacred Spirit (Serei no Moribito) from production I.G., was announced in Tokyo fair and airing now. It is very new and the panelists got the dvd yesterday from Japan. There is no set announcement yet for a US release, but a panelist stated it would debut a lot sooner than expected. The main video room premiered it first in the US that night. It is from the same people who did Ghost in the Shell.

Nearing the end, Geneon announced to some of its brand-new titles it has attained. One of the titles announced is, Shakugan no Shana OVA. Yoshida vs Shana for Yuji’s heart, Ogata vs Satao for Tanaka’s attention, all’s fair in love and war…, And hot springs make the most dangerous battlegrounds. Fan service lovers rejoice! Going to be shown exactly as the one shot dvd and original voice actors are in it. Not a new, but it is the first GeneonUSA is going to announce. The second new title announcement was releasing 2004’s Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its 2005 sequel Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A (same site as the Mgical Girl Lyrical Nanoha). There is no release date however, but one of the panelists said there was. So, the information on the release date is ambiguous.

For the warp-up of the show, there was an overview of the different styles of dvd packaging they currently have. Surveys were passed out asking which type of packing is preferred. There was a Q&A, but only three questions were asked due to time constraints.

Q) You used to be called Pioneer, but why are you calling yourselves Geneon?A) Geneon is just a marketing name that was made up. They were part of Pioneer electronics and they were sold to an advertising conglomerate to a Japanese company named Bensu. It is funny because Pioneer (the part that got sold) wanted to get out of entertainment one way or the other, while Bensu wanted to get into the US entertainment market. So it worked out kind of well. They are the same, just with different name. Because they are on their own, they wanted a new name.

Q) What is the advantages and disadvantages of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray (Basically High-Def as a whole)?A) Do you want the sarcastic answer? ::laugh:: Well, its all about breaking even. If it takes 30,000 units to break even and Superman Returns only has 30,000 units sold, we are going to wait awhile. Even though the anime fans are leading the edge of technology, the general public is not.

Q) I have a playstation 3 and I notice that everything you are doing is going to the Xbox live, are you ever going to the playstation system? Now with all the updates I have had on it, my dvd’s look great. I would love to download from Geneon content, legally? A) ::laughs and gives CD to question asker:: Yes, they are looking to work with more people and Sony. But, there are not that many PS3’s out there.

After the Q&A, there was a raffle for the dvd boxes that were used for the examples of the different styles of dvd packaging.